You see, given the incredible output by some fellow forum members – and also my own lazy pace of painting – it was always clear that I had no hope of ever winning any kind of award based on the amount of painted models. But the Badge of the Artificer is based on the ‘Wow-effect’ of individual models or vows, independent of their points worth, and I will admit that I’ve been gunning for that badge for a while now, and achieving it with a model that I am still pretty darn happy with definitely feels great!

In celebration, have a look at the snazzy photo montage I have created for the “Master Artificer” poll that will go up over at The B&C in the near future (EDIT: It’s right here, in case you want to check out the fantastic models created by the other entrants):

That’s not the only Armiger-related news, however: Since the heat in this part of the world has been almost unbearable for the last couple of weeks, and since I was still feeling a bit drained from the last paintjob, I limited myself to some light kitbashing, trying to come up with a cool angle for the second Renegade Armiger I still need to build: I decided to start with the parts of the model that would define its personality more than any other. Exhibit one, the face:

This time around, I didn’t want the head to look like a daemon face or another “classic” skull face, because that approach has already been sufficiently explored with the skull-like face on the first Armiger. I rather wanted to experiment with something that looks like a more robotic, mask like design that has had some elements grafted on to look intimidating and sinister, When building the mockup for the facemask, my inspirations were Biohazard’s attempt to channel Darth Nihilus’ facemask on his own Armigers, a couple of the creepier bug creatures I’ve encountered during my recent playthrough of Hollow Knight — oh, and if there was one direct visual influence, it’s Volund, a creepy automaton from ADB’s and David Sondered’s very cool webcomic series “The Road to Jove”:

Artwork by David Sondered

Artwork by David Sondered

So with those sources of inspiration in mind, here’s what I have come up with:

As you can see, it’s a more robotic – almost insectile – look. The one thing I am not sure about is whether or not to use the lower jaw: On the one hand, the head arguably looks even more like a creepy insect face without it. On the other hand, I rather like the way the jaw rounds of the design of the head (and ties back into a more classic chaos look).

Maybe it’s a decision I have to make once the head has been painted…

Here’s a – very early – mockup of the second Armiger:

The interesting thing about this model will be how much it resembles – or doesn’t resemble – the Hound: On the one hand, I do want the personality of the respective pilot show in the setup, pose and decoration of their Armiger to some degree, plus there also has to be a certain amount of individuality for the models to be suitably interesting. On the other hand, both Armigers are actually men-at-arms to Baron Harrowthorne and Gilgamesh, so I do want to have certain elements of uniformity as well. I imagine this whould be a fun balance to toy around with! With that said, this also means that the model can only really take shape once I’ve managed to get my hands on another set of Bloodthirster vambraces – or, failing that, vambraces from Skarbrand.

If anyone has those bitz and would be willing to trade, please let me know!!!

Oh, and I have also started with the assembly of the cockpit and the pilot — meet “The Huntress”:

I have wanted to add some kind of female character to my World Eaters ever since Lotara Sarrin turned out to be Betrayer’s best human character, and if I even needed any more persuasion, seeing Cheex’ fantastic female corsair captain, gave me the last little shove I needed.

I still had the face from one of the Coven Throne vampires – after cutting of her hairdo for my recent conversion of Countess Mandelholtz – and I combined it with a pilot hat from the Astra Militarum Sentinel — I think?! Anyway, the original face was carefully shaved off to make way for the female face. I think I may have to get rid of that small aerial over the right ear, though, as it probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense…

As for the body, my original plan was to build the model around another sentinel pilot, but then I realised that the Genestealer Hybrid bodies make for rather perfect pilot suits — and the models are also slight enough in build to work as a female character wearing a somewhat bulky suit.

Of course having a mockup was all well and good, but I still needed to fit the model into the actual cockpit. This was easier work than last time around, however, as I already had a basic recipe in mind.

So here’s my mockup of the Armiger’s cockpit and pilot:

This is still early days, of course, and I mostly focused on trying to at least get all the elements that need to be present in there. On the finished build, the pilot’s left hand will be turned around, obviously, and the right hand will be gripping a control stick (to hint at the same kind of interface also visible on my first Armiger pilot).

But anyway, I think I may be on to something here — I would love to hear your feedback, of course, so feel free to leave me a comment!

Why am I even still commenting on these? I say the same thing every time! Your work is amazing!

I would say, however, that the face looks better without the lower jaw. No fancy reasoning here, it just feels too busy with it added. Of course, the final decision is up to you! The other option I would explore in that regard would be turning the tusks inward to match the inspiration artwork a little better. If you did, I think that they would gel better with the lower jaw if you kept it, or help the insectile look you’re going for if you take the jaw off.

Like I said in the post, I think I’ll make the decision about the jaw when I see it all in colour. I’ll be keeping the horns as they are, though: They were leftovers from a Bloodthirster forehead, and it was actually a bit of a happy accident how well they fit the Armiger head.

First and foremost, while this wasn’t a thing you asked- I’m not in love with the upper fangs on that head. I think the lower jaw adds a nicely bestial touch but the fangs, at least in this mockup, seem almost awkward to me.

I actually like the aerial in her cap; no, it’s not the most wildly practical detail but I think it looks nice and faintly dieselpunk.

I think the pose of the Knight is fantastic! Is there any way to tilt the footpad on the back foot so that the Armiger looks like it’s looking forward? I think making it visually mobile and ‘on the prowl’ would help distinguish it from your other Knights while suiting her character, as might angling the head more in the direction of the Lance tip.

Now that I’ve thrown a bucketful of my 2 cents are you, the pilot is brilliant! You’re off to an excellent start for sure.

Cheers for the well-considered feedback, man! The fangs on the upper part of the faceplate were actually added to have an element that corresponds with the lower jaw and ties the whole thing together a bit better, and I hope it’ll work out when painted.

As for the pose, it’s still far from finished, and I am leaning towards a very grounded pose, where the model looks like it’s triumphing after having brought down its prey. My original plan was to have a very dynamic, maybe even running, pose, but that wouldn’t really mesh well with the harpoon arm.

Well deserved win on that award mate. Lovely work on number two, and especially nice to see a female pilot for a change. As for the head, I’d say jaw off personally, but you’ll make it awesome whichever way you go 🙂

Congratulations on your Artificer award mate – very well deserved – and such high quality entrants there!
I’m also partial to the head without lower jaw, but as you say – perhaps it all needs paint before a final decision is made. I certainly love the pilot, though!

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